Rain
by and-chaos-reigned
Summary: The Potters do not like muggles, halfbloods, or anything less that a proper pureblood wizard, as a general rule. But James Potter was never one for rules....-pure LJ fluff, just for fun, please rr!-


Rain

Lily Evans was crying, and she didn't want anyone to know. She had felt like crying all day in fact, but she hadn't let anyone see. She had woken up completely miserable, not remembering why, until the events of the previous day had come flooding back to her quite unwanted. She remembered saying awful things and wished with all her heart that she could take them back. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that most of her remarks had been somewhat justifiable; she hadn't been the only one flinging insults in that fight.

And now she was crying, and looking for someplace to hide. But dinner had just finished in the Great Hall, so the entrance hall lavatories were out of the question, and she had finally retreated to the roof. She had found this place in her second year at Hogwarts, when she had mistaken a certain staircase for the north tower stair and had ended up in a sort of cell, or closet, high above the grounds, hanging off the side of the castle in a most upsetting way. There were two doors: the one she had come through and one leading out to the tiled roof on which she now sat. It was the perfect place to come when a person needed to think, and this was what Lily needed to do now.

Except Lily hadn't noticed the clouds, and a storm was heading her way at an alarming rate. She warily tracked the thunder across the sky now, waiting for the coming rain. For Lily loved rain, and rainstorms were better; intoxicating was the word she used when trying to understand the way they made her feel. Rainstorms were intoxicating.

Just then she heard a door slam, and whipped around to see who had found her. And standing against the door, five foot eleven and one of the greatest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen, was the _last_ person Lily wanted to see at the moment. James Potter had never been more unwelcome in her sight.

_He looks lost_, thought Lily to herself as she simply sat waiting to see what he would do. She was too tired of everything to do anything else_. Or rather, he looks like he's lost something, and…oh dear_. Lily blinked. James stood, searching the rooftop, until he found what he was looking for. A slight girl of his age, redheaded with a temper to match, huddling against a chimney and looking for all the world like she would love nothing more than to jump off the edge right then and there. He started towards her, and she immediately turned back around, wiping tears from her eyes as inconspicuously as she could. He reached her, hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to her without saying a word.

She broke the silence first. "I don't want to talk to you James. I don't want to _see_ you! Remember? I'm not good enough for you!" She turned her head viciously towards him, glaring daggers to keep her mouth from trembling. Lily Evans does not cry in front of anyone.

James winced. "Lily…"

"NO. We've been through this, and I won't talk about it anymore." Her voice softened somewhat, and she looked terribly regretful for a moment. "You belong to a different world, James, no matter what happens. You've grown up in an isolated universe full of perfect, pureblooded wizards, and you can't just throw away your family and your life for one person. It doesn't work like that." Her voice wavered, and she stopped to regain control. Overhead the thunder rumbled again, and the first raindrops fell. Now Lily spoke in a near whisper. "You don't know how lucky you are to have a family who loves you! Don't you think Sirius ever regrets what he did? I _know_ why he doesn't speak to his family James, and I don't think you want that. I know you don't. Especially when you can't have what you want in place of all of it- you know that."

"Lils, please. Just stop it, ok? I don't think you've been listening to anything I've been telling you! I _know_ what I'm giving up, or don't you think I see Sirius? Have you ever considered that every year since he was eleven he's been spending Christmas at my house because his family doesn't want him at home? He's been living with my family since we were thirteen Lily, because he didn't want all the prejudice and everything his family still has. It's not like I don't get it. I know."

Lily looked up at him, trying to remember the fight they'd had and all the things she'd decided she hated about him the night before. But now all she could think of was his eyes, and how it scared her to look into them for fear of what she might see there. She shuddered, and the rain fell harder.

"You're beautiful Lily, and I would leave all my family if it meant we could be together. I…I think…I think I _love_ you Lily."

Lily jerked her head around once more to stare at him openmouthed; she had not been expecting that. Her mind whirled…James, James had just said he _loved_ her. The one thing she had wanted to hear from a person since she was old enough to know that no one did love her, the one thing she had wanted to hear from James for _so_ long. The one thing she had never in a million years expected him to say.

Suddenly Lily was scared. She shrunk back away from James, fear in her every move. Panic rose in his eyes as he realized what he had just said. "No, Lily- I'm sorry- I didn't mean to say that, honestly! I just wanted…I just don't want you to be mad at me any more. I can't stand it Lils, and I…"

Lily stared, letting all the numbness in her fade away, feeling the rain fall harder on their shoulders, soaking them through and waking Lily from a lifelong stupor.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. James looked startled.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you think…that you had to pretend you didn't love me. The feeling is quite mutual you know."

It took a moment for it to register in James' mind what exactly she had said. Suddenly a light sprung into his eyes, and an excitement he had never felt flooded over him. Lily…could she have meant what she said?

"Do you mean-"

"James, I have loved you more than anything I've ever known, for, for ages! Actually it's more like a couple of months or so, but since we had that fight and I believed what you said about me not being able to live in your life, and I thought it was over and finished and I stopped living James, I stopped wanting to live when I thought we were through, and now I don't know what we're going to do but if you mean what I think you said a minute ago, then I don't know what, but I'm sorry I can't-"

Lily stopped her rambling, but only because James had kissed her. She had been on the verge of tears a second ago, but in a moment James had leaned close and captured her lips on his with a soft, tender kiss that meant everything and said a thousand words. Lily could feel the rain pouring down, could feel the lightening lighting up the world, could feel the very sky weeping for joy and sadness, and everything she had felt in the last minute. And then James had kissed her, and time itself stopped for Lily Evans. He pulled away all too soon.

"Lily, I don't know what you're thinking, but I think you're crazy," he whispered, looking down into her eyes and laughing with his own, so full of love that he felt nothing else. He searched her face, studying every feature as if she would be snatched away from him in a second. Slowly, ever so slowly, he brought a hand up and tenderly cupped her cheek. His eyes searched her own with an intensity that neither of them thought they could stand for much longer. Lily closed her eyes at his touch, almost gasping at the wonderful shock of suddenly being so near to James. She touched his hand at her face, placing her own hand over his, and bringing to her lips to press them against his palm. James silently watched her, amazed at her every perfect move. They were so close he could almost hear her heartbeat over the noise of the thunder. Carefully he leaned in and placed his lips on her neck, dropping a line of soft kisses up her jaw and finally capturing her mouth once more in a kiss, this time a deep, passionate kiss that was so sweet Lily thought she would have fainted had she not been sitting down. The rain ran down their faces, and Lily kissed him back. Her hands slowly moved to the back of his neck, clinging there tightly and feeling the rain pour over her clasped hands and down his back. She felt him asking shyly for entrance, and she opened her mouth carefully, deepening the kiss. She felt his hands move to her waist, pulling her into a somewhat awkward embrace that brought them even closer.

However it is not very comfortable to be held by someone when you are sitting down, and the well-meant gesture ruined the moment. They both broke away unwillingly, and turned away a little in embarrassment. A small smile began to creep up in Lily's eyes though, and she turned to look at James to find he was laughing too. He stood, looking down at her, and offered her a hand. She took it and stood, then, with one last look at the torrential rain destroying everything in its reach, they turned to the door and went inside. There they sat once more, James leaning against the wall and Lily resting comfortably in his arms. She turned her head up to look at him.

"Crazy, eh? Well, fitting really, isn't it? I mean, you were never the levelheaded one of the group…"

James grinned down at her, and stopped smiling only because Lily had kissed him. They sat in each other's arms, never so happy in their lives, and outside……it rained harder.


End file.
